[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75006-75007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25923]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3472-024]


Aspinook Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing 
and Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 3472-024.
    c. Date filed: April 30, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Aspinook Hydro, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Wyre Wynd Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Quinebaug River in New London and Windham 
Counties, Connecticut. No federal lands are occupied by the project 
works or located within the project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).

[[Page 75007]]

    h. Applicant Contact: Mark Boumansour, Chief Operating Officer, 
Gravity Renewables, Inc., 1401 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302; Phone 
at (303) 440-3378, or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kristine Sillett at (202) 502-6575, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests: 60 days 
from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene and protests using the Commission's eFiling system 
at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. For assistance, please 
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected], (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic 
filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. 
Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be 
addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first 
page of any filing should include docket number P-3472-024.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors filing 
documents with the Commission to serve a copy of that document on each 
person on the official service list for the project. Further, if an 
intervenor files comments or documents with the Commission relating to 
the merits of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a 
particular resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document 
on that resource agency.
    k. This application has been accepted for filing, but is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. The existing Wyre Wynd Project consists of: (1) A concrete-
encased masonry dam that includes: (a) A 473-foot-long, 18-foot-high 
spillway with 2-foot-high wooden flashboards, and one, 5-foot-wide by 
3-foot-high sluice gate; (b) a 100-foot-long left abutment that 
includes a 65-foot-wide headgate structure with five, 10-foot-wide by 
12-foot-high headgates; and (c) a 4-foot-long right abutment; (2) a 
333-acre impoundment with a usable storage capacity of 167-acre-feet at 
a normal elevation of 97.3 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 
1929; (3) a 170-foot-long, 50-foot-wide forebay that includes: (a) A 
60-foot-long, 10-foot-high auxiliary spillway; and (b) two, 10-foot-
wide by 12-foot-high arched-top low-level outlet gates; (4) a 
powerhouse intake structure located at the downstream end of the 
forebay that includes: (a) A 37-foot-high steel trash rack structure 
varying in width from 19.5 feet to 21.3 feet, with a clear bar spacing 
of 2.6 inches; and (b) a 16-foot-long, 12-foot-diameter steel penstock 
that supplies flow to the main 2.7-megawatt (MW) S-type Kaplan turbine-
generator unit housed within the 30-foot-wide, 100-foot-long concrete 
powerhouse; (5) a 450-foot-long, 50-foot-wide tailrace that receives 
discharges from the main turbine-generator unit; (6) a second intake 
structure branching off of the right side of the forebay, approximately 
35 feet downstream of the headgate structure, that includes: (a) A 4-
foot-wide by 4-foot-high head gate; (b) a 9-foot-wide by 20-foot-high 
trash rack structure with 1.5-inch clear bar spacing that extends from 
the floor of the headgate structure to approximately 12 feet below the 
forebay water surface; and (c) a 40-foot-long, 4-foot-diameter steel 
penstock that provides flow to a mini, in-line 0.08-MW fixed-blade 
propeller turbine-generator unit; (7) a 10-foot-long, 30-foot-wide 
tailrace that receives discharges from the mini turbine-generator unit; 
(8) an 80-foot-long, 600-volt transmission line that connects the 
generators to the local utility distribution system; and (9) 
appurtenant facilities. The project creates an approximately 400-foot-
long bypassed reach of the Quinebaug River.
    The current license requires an instantaneous minimum flow of 120 
cubic feet per second (cfs), or inflow, whichever is less, downstream 
from the dam to protect fish and wildlife resources in the Quinebaug 
River.
    The project generates an average of 11,000 megawatt-hours annually 
(estimate based on generation from 2003 through 2015).
    Aspinook Hydro proposes to: (1) Operate the project in a run-of-
river mode; (2) provide an 84-cfs minimum flow to the bypassed reach; 
and (3) provide upstream and downstream fish passage.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov), 
using the eLibrary link. Enter the docket number, excluding the last 
three digits in the docket number field, to access the document. At 
this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's 
Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a National 
Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued 
by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in 
accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 
CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate 
action to take, the Commission will consider all protests filed, but 
only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the 
Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any protests 
or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified 
deadline date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title PROTEST, 
or MOTION TO INTERVENE; (2) set forth in the heading the name of the 
applicant and the project number of the application to which the filing 
responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone number of the 
person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise comply with the 
requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. Agencies may obtain 
copies of the application directly from the applicant. A copy of any 
protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative 
of the applicant specified in the particular application.
    o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments November 2020
Comments on Scoping Document 1 January 2021
Request Additional Information (if necessary) February 2021
Issue Scoping Document 2 February 2021
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis March 2021

    Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

    Dated: November 18, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-25923 Filed 11-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P